Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr (fl. ca. 1155-1200) (English="Cynddelw the Great Poet") was one of the most prominent Welsh poets of the 12th century.

Cynddelw began his career as court poet to Madog ap Maredudd, prince of Powys, and among his early poems is an elegy on Madog following his death in 1160:

While Madog lived there was no man

Dared ravage his fair borders

Yet nought of all he held

Esteemed he his save by God's might ...

If my noble lord were alive

Gwynedd would not now be encamped in the heart of Edeyrnion.

He composed poems for a number of the later rulers of Powys, now divided into two parts, such as Owain Cyfeiliog and Gwenwynwyn.

He also composed poems addressed to the rulers of Gwynedd and Deheubarth however, notably poems addressed to Owain Gwynedd and to his son Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd and later to Rhys ap Gruffudd of Deheubarth and to the young Llywelyn the Great. There is also a eulogy for Cynddelw's own son, Dygynnelw, who was killed in battle. He gives a vivid picture of the aftermath of a battle in one of his poems:

I saw after battle intestines on the thorns

Left for the wolves to bury

See also

Cynddelw at Wikisource

References

• Meic Stephens (ed). A Companion to Welsh Literature.

cy:Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr